Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to clarify which government body is responsible for taking the next steps on this project.

The Area Plan Commission’s vote was unanimous last week to rezone land for the Hard Truth Hills project, a new tourist attraction next to the fairgrounds.

On Sept. 6, the Brown County Commissioners will decide whether or not to uphold that vote.

The Nashville Town Council is considering annexing 231 acres of this property into town, as it did with a 94-acre parcel earlier this year. But since it hasn’t annexed it yet — and it isn’t definite that it will at all — the county commissioners will be the body in charge of the zoning decision, Planning Director Chris Ritzmann said.

The Brown County Area Plan Commission spent less than 10 minutes evaluating Ed Ryan’s request to change about 27 acres of that 231-acre plot from residential to general business zoning. The company needs that change so it can put employee parking on the land it bought earlier this summer.

Ryan told the APC that “things are moving along nicely” at the Hard Truth Hills site and the hope is to have it open to the public with “some limited tours and visitation” in November. A map projected at that meeting showed a new brewery, distillery, event center, small restaurant, visitor center and space for future buildings.

Ryan’s group had bought about 94 acres next door to the 231-acre parcel in December. But because of sight lines and other challenges, that original land mass wasn’t the best place to put all the elements of Hard Truth Hills, Ryan told the APC. That’s why they bought the additional land.

If the zoning change is upheld, the entrance to the complex can be put at Old State Road 46 and Snyder Road.

Ryan told the APC that 100,000 people a year is the rough estimate on the number of visitors it’ll attract.

He said his company had already engaged an engineering firm to study the entrance and traffic and he hoped to have it done within about a week.

The town council has hired a firm to study whether or not it makes financial sense to annex 231 more acres into Nashville. The town voted to annex the other 95 acres of the Hard Truth Hills project last year, but that land doesn’t officially become part of town until 2018.

The fiscal report will look at what it would cost the town to take in this land, in terms of extra services the town would provide, and how the town could benefit from an increase in property tax revenue, among other details.

Owners of land in town limits pay county and town taxes.

“We’re requesting this annexation because we think it’s the right thing to do,” said Ryan, the company CEO. “We couldn’t do this project without sewer from the town. Because of that, we think we should get our water from the town, and we think we should be annexed into the town of Nashville. And all of that results in us paying more to do this project, not less.”

The council unanimously approved spending up to $4,000 on this fiscal study, which is a required step in annexation. Town council President “Buzz” King estimated it would be ready to review by the next regular council meeting, which is Thursday, Sept. 21.

Town Attorney James T. Roberts said that if the town would decide not to annex, the property owners would have a right to go to court and review whether or not the town was physically and financially able to provide the services that they would get from annexation.

No one besides Ryan spoke in favor of annexation at the Aug. 14 public hearing, though about a dozen people wearing Big Woods shirts sat in the audience.

One person, a neighbor to the 231-acre parcel, brought up concerns about how this development would affect his property. Ken Bethards mentioned the trails the owners plan to have through the woods, the company’s increased demand for water, and whether or not the development would alter drainage for nearby land.

Ryan said trails are still being discussed. He said there are already logging trails on the land, and they’d talked about offering guided ATV tours on them. It also hasn’t been decided how the trails would be managed, like whether people would be able to walk them at any time without an escort. “We will be very cognizant of the fact that we’re close to your house, and if you ever have any issues, please let us know and we’ll do our best to make sure we resolve those,” Ryan told him.

The water pressure issues Bethards mentioned having at his house were because of water line work, Utility Manager Sean Cassiday said. One occurred when the town was hooking the new Big Woods property up to city water; the other was a leak near Eagle Park, he said.

As for drainage, Ryan said the plan is to leave much of the new acreage unimproved, so drainage wouldn’t be changed.

Nashville resident Tricia Bock challenged the town council about why it appeared that these 231 acres were already being considered to be part of town — at least, according to documents the town submitted to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in June. The town is being sued by private company Brown County Water Utility for the rights to serve this new development with water.

Bock argued that mention of this acreage in those documents made it looked like the annexation was “already a done deal.”

Nashville Economic Development Director Scott Rudd said the intent was to show the town’s perception of its water service area.

“The town has historically served water to many properties that were not within town boundaries,” Roberts said.

“The water territory and the annexation are a couple of different issues, here,” King said.